Quantitative Microstructural Characterization of Thick Aluminum Plates Heavily Deformed Using Equal Channel Angular Extrusion

A detailed quantitative analysis of the microstructure has been performed in three orthogonal planes of 15-mm-thick aluminum plates heavily deformed via two equal channel angular extrusion (ECAE) routes. One route was a conventional route A with no rotation between passes. Another route involved sequential 90 deg rotations about the normal direction (ND) between passes. The microstructure in the center of these plates, and especially the extent of microstructural heterogeneity, has been characterized quantitatively and compared with that in bar samples extruded via either route A or route Bc with 90 deg rotations about the longitudinal axis. Statistically robust data were obtained in this work using gallium enhanced microscopy and EBSD mapping of large sample areas. For the plate processed using route A, the fraction of high-angle boundaries was found to strongly depend on the inspection plane, being smallest in the plane perpendicular to the ND (plane Z), where the largest subgrain size and most profound microstructural heterogeneities were also revealed. In comparison, the plate extruded with 90 deg rotations about the ND was less heterogeneous and contained smaller subgrains in plane Z. Comparing the plate and bar samples, the most refined and least heterogeneous microstructure was observed in the route Bc bar sample. The differences in the microstructure are reflected in the hardness data; the hardness is lowest after ECAE via route A and greatest in the bar sample processed using route Bc.